Any foreigner can create a Fideicomiso (the equivalent to an American beneficial trust) through a Mexican bank in order to purchase real estate anywhere in Mexico, including what is commonly called the Restricted Zone (within 50 miles of a border with another country or within in 30 miles of the coast). 

 

To do so, the buyer requests a Mexican bank of his/her choice to act as a trustee on his/her behalf.  Title is transferred to the trust and they buyer is the beneficiary.  This conveys the same bundle of rights that holding property “fee simple” does in the United States.  You can will it, lease it, sell it, rent it and improve upon on it.  It is absolute, irrevocable and in perpetuity which is the definition of ownership.